Josh Berry and Jordan Taylor will share driving duties of the No. 9 car for Hendrick Motorsports until Chase Elliott returns from his injury, the team announced Tuesday.
Elliott, who was coming off a runner-up finish last weekend at Auto Club Speedway, suffered a fractured tibia in a snowboarding accident Friday in Colorado. Hendrick Motorsports stated that Elliott’s recovery is expected to last about six weeks. Elliott is rehabilitating in Colorado.
Berry, who competes full-time in the Xfinity Series for JR Motorsports, will drive Elliott’s car at upcoming oval tracks, while Taylor will drive for the No. 9 car at Circuit of the Americas.
Berry drove Elliott’s car last weekend at Las Vegas and finished 29th, two laps behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron, who won the Cup race.
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“We’re focused on getting Chase back to 100%, so we’ll take however much time is necessary and make sure he has the best resources available,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports in a statement from the team.
“Josh was impressive this weekend under difficult circumstances, and we look forward to having him drive the oval tracks until Chase is able to return. Jordan is a world-class road racer and has recently been working with our Garage 56 team preparing for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He’ll be able to step in and do a great job at COTA.”
Taylor competes in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Corvette Racing. He won the 2017 24 Hours of Daytona and the 2017 championship in the IMSA prototype class. The Cup race at COTA will mark Taylor’s first series start but he has two wins there in four IMSA races, winning in 2016 and ’17.
With Elliott’s recovery expected to last about six weeks, here are the races he likely will miss:
March 12 - Phoenix (Josh Berry will drive the No. 9)
March 19 - Atlanta (Berry)
March 26 - COTA (Jordan Taylor)
April 2 - Richmond (Berry)
April 9 - Bristol Dirt (Berry)
April 16 - Martinsville (Berry)
If Elliott’s recovery goes as scheduled, he could return for the April 23 race at Talladega Superspeedway.
So honored to be asked by @TeamHendrick to fill in for Chase at Circuit of the Americas in the #9 car. This is obviously under difficult circumstances with Chase being injured. It is going to be a heck of a learning curve, but I hope we can make him proud while he’s recovering. pic.twitter.com/3mg0WYN5VJ
— Jordan Taylor (@jordan10taylor) March 7, 2023